Foraging and nesting ecology of the giant queenless ant <i>Dinoponera australis</i> (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Hall D, First Floor (Convention Center)

Chadwick Tillberg , Department of Biology, Linfield College, McMinnville, OR

Benjamin Edmonds , Department of Biology, Linfield College, McMinnville, OR

Alex Freauff , Department of Biology, Linfield College, McMinnville, OR

Chris R. Smith , Department of Biology, Earlham College, Richmond, IN

Sarah Wittman , University of Vermont, Burlington, VT

Neil Tsutsui , Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management (ESPM), University of California, Berkeley, CA

Andrew V. Suarez , Department of Entomology, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL

We investigated foraging ecology and nesting biology of Dinoponera australis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), a large queenless ant about which little is known. By observing individual foraging trips, we were able to test a model of optimal foraging in this social insect. To assess this species trophic position, we performed stable isotope analysis of foragers, their prey, and the rest of the ant community. We also measured the spatial distribution of D. australis colonies to test the expectation of hyperdispersion common among negatively interacting conspecifics.

doi: 10.1603/ICE.2016.44256

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D0599 Foraging and nesting ecology of the giant queenless ant Dinoponera australis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)